“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
-Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
Alexander Hamilton was opposed to the Bill of Rights. He felt that outlining specific rights for the people would actually limit freedom. He argued that it would be used as a tool of tyranny by excusing the restriction of rights not specifically included in the document. In answer to this concern, the ninth and tenth amendments were added. These specified, respectively, that the inclusion of a Bill of Rights was not to be used to limit individual rights and that the powers not specifically included in the constitution were to be the rights of the states and people of the country.
It’s staggering when you realize how short the constitution is. It’s mind boggling how very few powers are given specifically to the federal government. In our country, it is up to the Supreme Court to decide whether or not the laws passed by our legislature are legal under the constitution. So, we must ask ourselves, how can we possibly have so many laws when so few responsibilities are ascribed to the federal government?
Let’s take a look at one example. The federal government ruled in Roe V. Wade that it was illegal for a state to make a law forbidding abortion. How was this justified? The justices said that such a law violates the “due process” clause of the constitution (located in both the 5th and 14th amendments). It states, “No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The Supreme Court decided that statement inferred a right of privacy, which inferred a right to abortion. Now, I am not looking at all at the moral implications of this extremely divisive subject. I simply want you to understand the legal ones. It is why so many people consider abortion (whether morally right or wrong) to be a state issue.
You see, despite their 5th grade history classes, Americans have forgotten that the power to legislate in this country is far from absolute. Just because the legislature wants to do something and votes to do it, does not make it legal. Every law that our legislature passes has to be within the powers specifically given to the Federal Government by the Constitution.
This post comes at a time when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is pleading for broader powers. The government is growing at an unprecedented rate and I'm wondering where they are getting the extra authority. I checked today and found that the constitution is exactly the same number of words as it was when I was in the 5th grade. I would like to share with you this video and let you decide whether you think what the government is currently doing is legal. It’s not right; but is it legal?
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